Torch.



c. O. REYNOLDS.

TORCH.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. l, 1916.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

. OFFICE...

CHARLES O. REYNOLDS, F HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA.

TORCH.

Application filed February 1, 1916.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES O. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Huntington, county of Cabell, State of Vest Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Torches, of which the following is a full and clear specification.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of torches which are especially adapted for use by locomotive engineers and firemen, and has for its object to provide a simple, strong and inexpensive device, wherein the wick can be easily adjusted and the can-body filled with oil without entirely removing the wick. These and other objects hereinafter set forth are attained by the means shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a view of the torch showing it partly in side elevation and partly in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the combined closure cap and wick-holder. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through the wick holding tube, and Fig. 4 is aview in side elevation showing the normal position of the torch when being carried by its handle.

Similar reference numerals in all of the figures of the drawing designate like parts.

Referring to the drawing, it will be ob served that the can-body or tank 1 is provided with a relatively wide bottom 2 and a relatively narrow top 3. thereby forming a tapering receptacle. This is a preferable shape for the improved torch as it provides a wide base to support the torch in an upright position and prevent its overturning and displacement from its seat by the constant vibration on a locomotive. Furthermore, this particular shape of receptacle provides a relatively heavy lower part, especially when filled with oil, and consequently, the receptacle will naturally and automatically as sume the normal position illustrated in Fig. 4 when carried loosely by the handle. It might be said further, that this particularly constructed torch is especially adapted for the use of thin oils, such as kerosene, and by shaping the can or tank to provide the relatively heavy bottom to cause it to assume the inclined position, it is obvious that the oil will not forcibly run through or around the wick and drip or waste from its free end.

On the top 3 of the torch is formed or secured the screw-threaded neck 4 which is,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

Serial No. 75,496.

open at its upper end to provide a mouth for the can-body, and this neck 4 is of a diameter slightly less than the diameter of the top wall 3, to form a flat horizontal portion 5 for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

A screw-threaded cap 6 is provided as a closure for the tank or can-body, and said cap preferably engages on the outside of the thimble 4L, and is provided near its lower end with the horizontal portion 7, which engages the portion 5 of the can to form a seal, and is also provided with a depending flaring flange 8 to fit snugly the flaring portion 9 of the can-body. The top 10 of the cap 6 is also adapted to engage the upper edge of the thimble 3, thereby forming, together with the other engaging portion of the cap and thimble, a close and complete seal which will prevent the leaking of the thin oil through the closed mouth, and especially when the torch is held with its small end downward as is necessary under certain conditions when used around a locomotive or other machinery.

A wick-tube 11 is secured to the cap 6 in any preferable manner, usually by solder, and the same extends through the top 10 thereof providing a portion of considerable length extending above the cap 6 and also a portion of considerable length extending below the cap and into the torch body or tank. This wick-tube 11 is preferably of even diameter throughout its entire length, so that a wick will fit snugly therein and not be throttled at any one point more than at another point, thereby allowing the oil to pass evenly therethrough. This tube 11 is of smaller diameter than the diameter of the mouth or neck l which proportion of parts will allow the filling of the can without entirely removing the lower end of the tube from the receptacle.

To feed the wick upwardly through the tube, a slot 12 is formed in one side thereof through which the wick can be engaged by a suitable sharp pointed tool. Said slot is formed in the lower portion of the tube only, so that it is entirely concealed when the can is closed. Thus tofeed the wick, the cap is first unscrewed to expose the slot and the point of a suitable tool is engaged with the wick through the exposed slot and pressed upwardly.

For ordinary uses, the frictional engagement of the wick with the interior of the wick-tube throughout its entire length, is

suilicient to retain the wick in proper burning position, but in use on locomotives or other jarring machinery it has been found that the vibration of the machinery causes the wick to slide or move downwardly in the tube and conceal the free end thereof. To avoid this serious objection, the present tube construction is provided adjacent its lower end with points or barbs 13, which are formed with their penetrating points at their upper ends and slightly bent inward in the path of the wick. Thus it will be seen, that any tendency of the wick to move downwardly will be prevented by its engagement with the points 13.

Preferably the barbs 13 are positioned in a .plane near the lower end of the slot 12, so that, when a tool is inserted through the slot to lift the wick, it pulls the wick from engagement with the barbs, and as there are no further obstructions in the tube above the barbs, the upper portion of the wick is easily fed upwardly without danger of buckling or compre sing at any one point to prevent a free flow of oil by capillary attraction.

The cap 6 is made of relatively thin metal throughout its cross section including its wide top which is adapted to cover the wide mouth of the can, and the tube 11 is also formed of thin metal, therefore to reinforce both of these members, an annular brace 14,

preferably conical in shape, is provided, the

same being secured in any preferable mannor to the top 10 of the cap and to the tube a considerable distance above the top 10. lhis brace 4 firmly and rigidly secures the tube in position to the cap and forms a pro tector against bending for the portion of the tube adjacent the cap. It also reinforces the flat wide and thin top of the cap and protects its connection with the tube.

A handle 15 by which the torch is carried, is secured to one side of the can-body, and is preferably positioned with respect thereto, as to cause the torch to naturally hang in the inclined position, shown in Fig. l of the drawing.

From the above description, it will be ob served, that a torch is provided which tapers from its extreme bottom to its top, thereby causing its greatest weight to lie at the bottom and gradually lessening as it approaches the top. This forms a torch which is practically unupsettable and when placed upon a piece of moving machinery, will not be affected or moved from its'position by viln'ation. Furthermore, the manner of constructing the combined wick tube and cap, and also the particular placing of the wick retaining barbs or points, provides a simple construction which is cheap to nninufacture, and at the same time strong and durable, and easily operable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters -Patent, is:

A torch, comprising an oil receptacle having an open mouth at its upper end, a removable closure for said mouth, a wicktube secured to said closure and provided with a portion depending into said receptacle, said depending portion having a feedslot to afford access to the wick therein and provided with an interiorly-projecting means at the lower end of said feed-slot for preventing a. backward movement of the wick and allowing free upward movement thereof when pulled by an instrument inserted through said feed-slot.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afliX my signature.

CHAS. O. REYNOLDS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

